Spicejet to fly Jet’s grounded planes
NEW DELHI: Air passengers are likely to be spared a sharp spike in fares with budget carrier Spicejet planning to lease Jet Airways’ grounded aircraft and Jet’s lenders preparing to extend interim finance to keep its operations going, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
As many as 50 aircraft are on offer to Spicejet, said one of the persons privy to discussions between lessors and the airlines.
“Commercial negotiations are on for the leasing deal with Spicejet. It will make immense sense to find an operator in India for these grounded planes rather than taking them elsewhere,” said the person mentioned above on condition of anonymity.
State-owned lenders State Bank of India (SBI) and Punjab National Bank (PNB) are considering emergency funding to Jet Airways, subject to conditions on changes in the board of directors. The aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, had last week warned that Jet Airways’ current operational fleet of 41 aircraft— about a third of the 119 it had before the current liquidity crunch hit the airline—could see further reduction.
“Lenders will provide some comfort before roping in a new investor in Jet Airways. The holding of current shareholders will come down and lenders will pick up substantial stake in the airline. Eventually lenders will divest their stake to new investors,” the second person closely involved in the discussions on a resolution plan for Jet Airways said on condition of anonymity.
Phone calls and an email sent to SBI officials remained unanswered till press time.
For Spicejet, which had to cancel several flights because of the ban on Boeing’s controversial 737 Max 8 aircraft, leasing Jet’s grounded planes will be a quick solution to replenishing capacity. Spicejet said last week that it operated with 94% capacity utilization in February.
The first person quoted above said that once a commercial deal is struck between aircraft lessors and Spicejet, it may take a few weeks to repaint the planes and deliver them to Spicejet.